Placeholder A Battle Hardly Won

[Naiya]

Winter-65th-515 AV

Bodies lay across the grass, here she could see a few, many were simply hollows of missing grass across the sea. Grass was flattened beneath feet, but so many lay beside their families, with no one left to mourn them. Men, women, and children, all lay posed for their journey.

Naiya stared out over the sea of bodies, loathing herself for the relief she felt that Shahar's face didn't number the many there. Whispers from loved ones stretched across the city like a fog broken only by the sounds of sorrow.

A mother wept over a child, not worth taking, but in the way, the pirates had ended his life. "Feis zul rhotame" the words offered comfort, a reminder that despite sorrow, the web would bring families back together. There was no loos of the soul, simply rebirth, a chance to rejoin the circle. Ans yet...

The reassurance felt hollow. A life lost before it had time to begin. An attack, walahks, that ended the lives of so many. Feis zul rhotame. It was little reassurance to the mother who outlived her son, or the father who lost his only daughter.

Her time there was over, her loved ones were safe, and she could offer nothing more to the families here. She turned her back to the funeral, moving through the crowd with slow, quiet steps to keep from disturbing the families.

Once she was clear of those who still grieved, she could see the horses, collected in mass around the funeral. Parting from a strider in such times was tough, and while they weren't disallowed from such events, the crowding and the striders that mourned riders made for a thick enough crowd that one who could left mounts nearby instead.

Wildfire was a gift among the others gathered, a bit tall, and steady, not fighting or being picked at. He was a pillar of strength, and she was glad to return to him, her own loss different, but deeply felt.

Greetings,"Come, let us see if there is a better way to remember our losses." Her voice was soft, a whisper for her and Wildfire, a distraction from the sorrow around her.

-----------

Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant

[Naiya]

Tucked into a small space in her pack were three items, a pair of earrings and a single boar tooth. She planned to take them to Wind Skins, where hopefully the woman there would pierce her ears.

She took hold of yvas and withers, and with a hop pulled herself up into place on Wildfire's back. She swung her leg over, and sat up, looking out over the bodies once more. Those who mourned, those who watched from the sidelines, and the sway of the grass. "Feis zul rhotame." Her voice joined the many that lingered in the heavy air. She tucked her hands into the fur she wore over her cloak, sending Wildfire into a walk with a gentle squeeze of her calves. She turned her head, the motion subtly asking him to turn, and he followed her gaze in toward the city.

The Wind Skins had a line, many requesting tattoos in memory of their loved ones they had lost. Voices were low, the air here too was heavy with sorrow. Faces turned down, shoulders weighed down by sadness, it was not the usual scene of the Drykas. Naiya didn't stick out any as she approached. She asked Wildfire to stop with a shift of her weight backwards, and only when he was completely stopped did she pull her hands out of their warm cocoon to offer balance as she swung her leg over and slipped off his side.

Naiya joined the wait with patience, most were simply scheduling tattoos, not all of them would be seen today. Yet, she felt the undercurrent of urgency, these people needed to do something, a feeling she shared. She couldn't go on unchanged in the absence of her loved ones. Not when they were gone, her home nearly empty, and yet she still had to go on.

It was a feeling hard to describe, the emptiness of her bed, the lingering absence that shaped the pavilion, filled the silence. It was something that had to be addressed. Yet, how did one account for something that... wasn't, something that was missing.

The solution, it would seem, was to change oneself. Get a tattoo, pierce your ears, cut your hair. Reflect the change in a way only Drykas might.

Her reflection was cut short as she approached the woman, she was tattooing, but nearing completion as Naiya arrived. Naiya sought the name of the woman, recalling from her visit earlier in the season to get her Windmarks redone.

"Jarora" inquiry.

"Jarorra" She corrected, firm, but not unkind. Naiya nodded. She watched her work for a moment, and when she had finished Naiya addressed her again.

Seeking "piercings, three." The woman nodded, washing her hands in a basin fulled with herbs. A gesture to follow came from dripping hands, and Naiya did.

-----------

Naiya space Pavi | Common | Tukant
other space Pavi | Common | Tukant